CHAPTER 13
COWBOY
I can not fucking believe I’m wasting my time, time with my daughter, my woman, and my brothers, to deal with this piece of fucking work.
A hatred so fierce that it almost has my steps faltering rips through me.
It would be so easy to give into it, but I resist because this woman has one redeeming quality—she gave birth to my daughter.
But it’s not going to save her ass today. Because I saw the look on my girl’s face and Shania is the last person she wanted to see.
Shania crashed the party at the wrong fucking time. The photos Brielle had printed are amazing. I already know where I’m going to hang mine in our house. I’ll put a photo of Brielle dancing back in the day right next to it. I never could get rid of the mementos of the only woman I’ve ever loved.
I shove Shanie into the gym, not giving a fuck when she stumbles. She recovers quickly and tries to reach towards me, but I slap her hand away. There’s no fucking way I’m going to let this woman touch me.
Rian is the only reason I don’t completely regret the night we spent together.
“You have no right to be here,” I growl the words, the beast in me demanding that I protect my daughter and my woman.
Shania scoffs, “Of course I have the right to be here. I’m her mother.”
Her.
She doesn’t even say her daughter’s name.
“You’re not Rian’s mother,” Brielle’s voice is hard as she steps into the gym and stands next to me.
Some of the rage in me settles knowing I’m not feeling it alone. I can feel the anger wafting off my woman. She’s close to losing control and as much as I would love to let her pummel Shania, I can’t let it happen.
What a fucking pity.
Shania is the kind of woman who would get the police involved and make Brielle’s life hell. I won’t let that happen.
Shania looks at Brielle with narrowed eyes, but I can still see the calculation there. “Who the fuck are you?”
Brielle holds her head up high. On anyone else it would be haughty, but she just looks regal.
“I’m the woman who is going to spend the rest of her life being the mother Rian deserves to have.
” My woman’s eyes slide down Shania’s body with disgust and it’s fucking glorious to witness.
“You don’t deserve to have that little girl’s light shining anywhere near you.
You’d try and siphon it from her, and I’ll never let that happen. ”
Shania’s head snaps back like she’s just been slapped. If fucking only.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Shania snarls the question and tries to step closer to Brielle while her eyes brim with threats, but I take a step closer to her in warning.
“You’re no one.” She glances at me and narrows her eyes.
“This is who you’re bringing around my daughter?
Some whore who probably thinks snagging a biker is a one-way ride to a new life? ”
My laughter starts slow, but then it becomes a loud booming sound in the room. Shania blinks at me a few times as if she doesn’t know what is going on while Brielle tries to hide her smile.
When the sound of my laughter fades in the room, I look at Shania again, my eyes sharp.
“Not that I owe you a fucking explanation considering the only thing we share is Rian. Even then you have only ever tried to use her as a pawn to get closer to me until you became a whore for a rich man who treats you like a trophy, but Brielle is my woman, my Old Lady.” My voice turns deadly, “Soon, she’ll be my wife.
Rian is hers; my daughter was never yours. ”
Shania’s face drains of color, but she still clings to her bravado. I watch her transform in front of my eyes to try and look wounded and innocent. She would be convincing if I didn’t know what a snake she really is. But I do know.
“How can you say that to me? I always wanted to be a mother to Rian. You’re the one who wouldn’t let me,” she pouts and I can’t tell if she really believes the bullshit coming out of her mouth or not. “We could have co-parented, but you didn’t even want that.”
“You’re delusional,” I bite out the words. “If you wanted to be her mother, where were you when she was sick for the first time? Or how about every time she needed to be changed or fed in the middle of the night? Where were you when she fell and scraped her knee? How about her first day of school?”
Shania’s eyes alight with something like victory and I brace myself. She looks at Brielle with condescension, but her words are for me, “She wasn’t there for any of that either.”
The smile that curls on Brielle’s lips should be a warning that is heeded, but Shania was never very smart. “Yes,” my woman drawls, “I missed all of those moments too.”
She takes a step forward and I let her since I see no reason to hold her back. I’m damn glad she followed me. I’m sure she made sure someone had Rian’s attention before following me because that’s how she loves.
“Here’s the difference between us though,” Brielle’s voice drops dangerously, “I’m going to be the one who gets all the moments in the future.
The first time she performs on stage because it’s something she loves.
The first time someone breaks her heart.
” I stiffen and Brielle’s hand slides down my arm to soothe me.
“Prom and graduation. Her wedding,” her words are softer, but they don’t lose the force behind them.
“You won’t be there because you’re too selfish and conniving to see what you threw away all because you didn’t get the meal ticket you were banking on. ”
Shania doesn’t hear the important parts and scoffs, “Like you’re any better.”
Brielle shakes her head slowly. “I pity you,” she spits out the words.
Realizing she’s not getting anywhere engaging my woman, Shania tries to skirt around her to step closer to me. But she doesn’t get the chance because she’s stopped with a hand in the middle of her chest.
“No.”
Brielle doesn’t bark out the word. She doesn’t demand compliance. My woman simply says it like a pronouncement of fact.
And Shania has no choice but to stop.
“You can’t be serious about this, Everton,” my worst mistake whines.
My gaze hardens and she swallows hard. “I’m Cowboy to you, and you know it, Shania.”
Brielle makes a tsking sound and shakes her head in admonishment. I have to clench my jaw to stop myself from laughing.
I’ve never seen this side of her before, not really. She’s a guard dog and she’s clearly defined her territory. It’s as simple as that.
I only hope Shania doesn’t notice how hard I am because it sure as fuck has nothing to do with her.
My woman, because she loves to taunt me and has noticed my issue, slides in front of me and presses her ass back against the bulge in my jeans.
Biting back a groan is not easy, but I manage it as my hands find her hips and squeeze.
“Let me be clear. Brielle is my woman. Mine. She is Rian’s mom. They love each other and I have no doubt that Brielle will show up for my girl which is something you never did.” I tilt my head and ask again, “Why are you here?”
“She’s still my daughter,” she huffs out as if it’s enough of an answer.
As I study her, something dawns on me and my voice turns hard, “Is your rich husband throwing out the trash suddenly?”
Shania scoffs, but I see the truth flash in her eyes. “I just think we should finally be the family we should have been from the start.” Her eyes are pleading, but it’s fake. She’s fake. When I don’t react, she tries a different approach. “If you keep me from my daughter, she’ll hate you forever.”
“That’s it,” Brielle’s voice is a sword cutting through the room.
Before I even really know what’s happening, Brielle has gripped the back of Shania’s neck with one hand and her arm with the other. The way she leads the woman out is not nice, but it could be worse. I follow along closely, my entire focus on my woman.
The moment Rian comes into view, Shania starts to shriek. “You can’t do this to me. I want to see my daughter. You’re keeping her from me and poisoning her against me.”
“Shut up,” Brielle doesn’t have to shout to be heard. Sound seems to bend around her and the shrieks fall away, thankfully. When she looks at our girl, her steps pause for a moment.
My heart drops when I see the tears swimming in Rian’s eyes. I want to go and comfort her, but I can’t leave my woman alone with the harpy.
The elevator doors open and Brielle shoves Shania hard enough to make her stumble and have to catch herself against the wall. It’s extremely gratifying.
“Don’t come back. I’ll be adopting Rian as soon as possible. I don’t care if you try and fight it. I don’t care if you try and show your ass all over Vegas. It’ll happen and I’ll be the mom she knows she can always rely on,” Brielle doesn’t yell, she doesn’t have to.
There is certainty in every syllable and Shania hears it. The last thing we see is her face turning bright red while her mouth drops open. But any words she might want to spew are lost, thankfully.
I reach for Brielle, but she’s already on the move back toward Rian. Our girl is standing now, her presents temporarily forgotten, and I could kill Shania for showing up and pulling her bullshit. I never would have gone there, even if Brielle hadn’t come back into my life.
As much as I can feel that Brielle wants to reach for Rian, she doesn’t. “I’m sorry I had to do that, but I won’t let her hurt you,” Brielle’s words are jagged and filled with conviction.
“Don’t be sorry,” Rian’s words are small, but strong.
She’s looking at Brielle like she’s the wind she can use to soar even higher, because she is.
“I’ve never liked her,” she starts out slow but picks up speed.
“She has only ever come around when she wanted something from Dad or wanted to make herself feel better. It was never about me. She never loved me.”
Brielle’s hands clench at her sides and my heart cracks open. I want to hold them both, but I know they need this. Fuck, I need this.
I’ve been holding myself and my daughter together for so long. My brothers help. They have my back. They would die or kill for Rian. Still, it’s not the same, even if I was willing to pretend for the rest of my life that it is.
Rian steps closer and wraps her arms around Brielle who doesn’t hesitate to hold her. “You love me though,” my daughter’s words ring true and seem to echo around the room, “and I love you. In my heart, you’re my mom.”
When Brielle looks over at me, there are tears in her eyes. She studies my face for a moment and then her shoulders relax. The breath she blows out is full of relief.
“In my heart, you’re my daughter,” Brielle whispers like the words are fragile. “I love you and your dad. You’re the family I was always meant to find. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”
Rian giggles and seems to burrow deeper into Brielle’s hold. If I have to blink back tears, no one says a damn word about it.
My arms wrap around both of my girls and I murmur, “Worth the wait.”
When I look up, my brothers are watching the scene with soft features which look almost creepy on some of them. But I get it since I’m barely hanging on myself.
I make sure my voice carries to everyone, “In case it wasn’t clear.
I’m claiming Brielle as my Old Lady. She’s been mine since we were kids and I never stopped being hers.
Not only is she my Old Lady, but I’ll be making her my wife as soon as she agrees to it.
She’s also Rian’s mom in every way that matters. ”
Cheering fills the room. It pushes away the rest of the heaviness from Shania showing up and making a mockery of herself, and the role she could have filled if she wasn’t a selfish cunt. But she is, and here we are.
Rian will be better off, and I know I am already.
“I think you have more presents to open,” Brielle gently prods.
Our daughter doesn’t run off right away, she lingers and bites her lip before asking, “Can we go see the studio tomorrow?”
My woman lights up and nods eagerly. They share another tight hug before Rian bounds away. With every step it’s as if the weight of the interruption is stripped away.
Because she knows she’s safe and secure now. In all ways.
“She’s amazing,” Brielle breathes out.
I nuzzle my face in her neck and take a deep breath. It grounds me, a mix of old and new memories flitting through my mind.
As we watch Rian, I start making mental notes of everything I need to do. It’s time for Shania to give up her parental rights. I never pursued it before because I didn’t want to hurt my daughter. That was a mistake.
One I will rectify as soon as possible.
“I love you, Tiny Dancer,” I whisper against her neck.
She breathes out, “I love you, Cowboy.”
I jerk back from her before glaring down at her. Even though she tries to hide it, I can see the smirk. She’s playing with fire, and she knows it.